


Feline Fine

by benjaminrussell



Series: Lone Star Dates [8]
Category: 9-1-1: Lone Star (TV 2020)
Genre: Asexuality, Canonical Character Death, Cat Cafés, F/M, First Dates, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Tags Contain Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 09:01:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30137163
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjaminrussell/pseuds/benjaminrussell
Summary: A chance cat rescue leads to Tim making a new friend, one who it turns out he has a surprising amount in common with. It seems like they’re meant to be, but with everything life throws at them, is there any chance of making a relationship work?
Relationships: Tim Rosewater/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Lone Star Dates [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2143815
Comments: 8
Kudos: 9





	Feline Fine

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to [autumnchills](https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnchills/pseuds/autumnchills%E2%80%9D) for beta reading, and [Jecari](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jecari/pseuds/jecari) for the banner!
> 
> This is my 100th work on AO3, so I'll dedicate the milestone appropriately to minor and/or underappreciated characters! XD

When Tim left Baltimore and moved across the country to Austin, he’d had a lot going on in his life and didn’t have time to even think about dating. He’d been busy with moving and then college and, given that he’d still been figuring out his sexuality at that point, well, he figured it was unsurprising that he never ended up in a relationship while he was studying. After college, he’d finally begun to get comfortable with his identity, so he had put himself out there, dating a handful of people, but none of his relationships had lasted especially long, and eventually, he’d more or less given up on trying to meet anyone. Dating was difficult anyway and being ace only made it more so.

Joining the Austin Fire Department as an EMT was fulfilling enough and took up enough of his time that he was happy being single, so most of the time he barely thought about relationships. Or at least, romantic ones. His work partner, Nancy Gillian, definitely thought Tim was weird (he may have gone on for too long about Buster Keaton one too many times for her to think anything else), but she didn’t judge him for it and as it turned out, they worked really well together. Over years of working together, they grew closer, and even if they weren’t quite best friends, they were family. Then there was Michelle, who clearly had her own issues but still made time to make them feel like they were making a difference, that they were doing a good job. Those relationships were especially important when all but two of the 126’s firefighters were killed on the job. The paramedic team was assigned to a different firehouse, but it took a long time before they felt like they had their feet under themselves again, and supporting each other was the only way they got through it.

The other important figure in Tim’s life was his cat, Buster. Tim had adopted him from a shelter as a kitten, one of a litter that’d been abandoned by the side of the road but thankfully rescued by a passing motorist before anything bad could happen. Buster liked to wake him up at ridiculous times of day by screaming, but if his job gave him anything, it was the ability to fall asleep at the drop of a hat, no matter what time it was, so Tim had largely gotten used to it. He just gave Buster a few scritches before rolling over and going back to sleep. In the grand scheme of things, he figured it was a small price to pay for the comfort he got from having another creature in the house, especially on the days where there’d been one awful call after another, and all Tim wanted to do when he got home was collapse on the sofa and turn his brain off. Buster always stopped him from sinking too far into despair, whether by letting him pet him and providing comfort or by being a pain and distracting him.

Tim was happy and not looking for love, so of course, that was when it found him.

It was a midweek day off, so he’d gone downtown to do some shopping and run some errands that he’d been putting off. He was wandering down a side street, debating whether to stop for coffee or to just get his shopping over and done with when he heard a faint mewling coming from under a dumpster. A glance behind it revealed nothing amiss, so he crouched down in front of the dumpster and peered underneath. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but then he spotted a pair of eyes looking back at him.

“Hello there,” Tim said softly, not wanting to scare the cat any more than it probably already was. “What’re you hiding from, huh?”

He held his hand out and kept talking softly, hoping to calm the cat enough to get it to come out. “I’m not going to hurt you, I promise. I just want to check you’re okay. It’s my job, see? Although normally my patients are human.”

The cat didn’t move from its hiding spot, but it also didn’t run away or start hissing at him, so Tim counted it as a good thing. Making sure not to make any sudden movements, he reached into his shopping bag and pulled out a tin of tuna, mentally apologising to Buster as he opened the tin. He’d bought it as a treat for his own cat, but he figured it might do the job here and he could always buy more tuna later.

“Does that smell good?” Tim set the tin down on the ground, a little way always from the dumpster, and then shifted backward, giving the cat space to get to the food without feeling pressured.

At least, that was the theory. He sat back on his heels and waited, talking again in the same soft tone that he used to coax Buster out from under the bed when he was sulking because Tim wouldn’t let him eat off his plate.

“I got it for my own cat, but I’m sure he’ll be happy for you to have it. As long as I get him a new tin anyway.”

The cat edged slightly closer and stopped, as if expecting Tim to grab it as soon as it got in reach.

“Do you have an owner?” Tim asked, keeping up the calming litany. “I bet you do. But where are they?”

After a few more minutes, the cat cautiously crept out from under the dumpster and Tim was able to see that it was indeed wearing a collar with a tag. It reached the tin and started eating, looking up at Tim in between every bite to make sure he wasn’t coming any closer. Tim held out his hand again, waiting and letting the cat come to him. Eventually, once the tuna was finished, he was rewarded by the cat creeping towards him and tentatively sniffing his hand. He kept still, letting it take its time, and then when it deemed him okay and started rubbing its head against his hand, Tim grinned to himself. He slowly started stroking it with his fingers, before cautiously reaching out with his other hand to snag the collar tag so he could read it.

“Harley, huh?” He flipped it over in case there was a number, and instead found _Feline Fine, Cat Café_.

Still petting Harley with one hand, he pulled out his phone and quickly googled it, discovering it was actually only a few streets away. Somehow, he’d never noticed it before. He put his phone away, slipped his arm through the handle of his shopping bag, and then slipped a finger through Harley’s collar so he couldn’t escape before scooping him up into his arms. Harley tried to escape but it was a rather half-hearted attempt, and Tim kept stroking him and talking to him to get him to calm down again.

“I’m going to take you home now and then you’ll be nice and safe, and things won’t be overwhelming anymore.”

Tim eyed the empty tin on the floor, weighed up the likelihood of being able to pick it up without losing Harley, and then nudged it under the dumpster with his toe. It was close enough that he wouldn’t feel bad for littering at least. He turned on his heel and headed down the street, making his way towards the location where google had told him the cat café was.

“Harley! Where are you?” Tim heard a woman calling out when he got close, and when he rounded the corner, he immediately spotted her.

Dressed in a blue apron with ‘Feline Fine’ emblazoned across it, she had dyed blonde hair pulled back in a high ponytail and a worried expression on her face.

“Harley!” She shouted again, looking under some boxes that had been left on the street.

“Excuse me, I found your cat!” Tim called to her as he approached.

The woman’s head snapped up and her expression immediately turned to one of relief as she saw Harley in Tim’s arms. “Oh my god, thank you. He got out when a customer left the door open and I was so worried. Where did you find him?”

“He was under a dumpster a few streets away. Probably overwhelmed, the poor guy. I managed to coax him out with patience and tuna.” Tim held Harley out so the woman could take him, making sure to not let go of Harley’s collar until she had him securely so he couldn’t get spooked and run again.

“Thank you so much. Please come into the cafe. The very least I can do is get you a free coffee!” She smiled at Tim, and he was hit by how pretty she was.

The way she obviously cared for Harley didn’t hurt either.

“Oh, it’s not necessary, it’s basically my job.” Tim smiled back, before darting ahead of her to open the café door (after making sure there were no other cats trying to get out).

“Oh, are you a firefighter then?” She asked, grinning a little.

“An EMT actually, but I work with firefighters. You know what, I don’t think I’ve ever seen them rescue a cat from a tree, although admittedly, Dispatch probably wouldn’t send EMS to a scene like that.”

The woman laughed and led him inside, heading for a back room that said ‘PRIVATE’ on the door. Tim hung back by the counter, but she gestured for him to follow her.

“It’s okay; you’re with me.” Then as an afterthought, she added, “I’m Lillie, by the way.”

“I’m Tim.” He let the door swing shut behind him, looking around to see that the room was clearly where the staff cared for the cats and where the cats lived when they weren’t out in the main room with customers.

“So, Tim, do you have a cat? You seemed pretty comfortable handling Harley.” Lillie asked as she set Harley down on an examination table.

“I’m just going to check you out and then you can go back to doing whatever you were doing.” She modulated her voice as she spoke to Harley, before glancing back at Tim, going slightly pink. “That was to Harley, not you.”

Tim chuckled. “Don’t worry, I gathered. And yes, I do have a cat. His name is Buster, after Buster Keaton.”

“Aww, that’s cute.” Lillie gave Harley a quick once over to make sure he wasn’t hurt, before letting go and standing back so he could jump off the table.

Then she ushered Tim back into the café proper and slipped behind the counter. “Now what do you want to drink?”

She held her hand up when it looked like Tim was about to protest. “No, I insist. My treat for saving Harley.”

“In that case, a cappuccino would be great, thanks.” Tim glanced around the room, taking a moment to just watch all the cats interacting with the customers before turning back to Lillie. “What’s it like working here? I’m imagining some combination of pet store employee and barista, but I’m not sure how accurate that is.”

Lillie appeared to think about it for a moment while she set about making Tim’s drink. “Yeah, that about covers it.”

“I’m not allowed pets at my apartment, so working here is like the next best thing.”

“I can see that. You get to look after them all, even if you can’t take them home.” Tim didn’t know how he’d cope if he’d not been allowed a cat, but then again, there probably weren’t quite so many traumatic events to deal with at a cat café.

Tim stuck around as he drank his coffee, chatting to Lillie in between her serving other customers or attending to the cats. He’d been a bit worried he was getting in her way, but she’d assured him he was fine. Their obvious shared love for cats had kept the conversation going after he’d returned Harley, but as they chatted, Tim found that he really enjoyed talking to her. He was fairly confident Lillie was enjoying herself too. In fact, by the time he had to leave so he could get the rest of his errands done, they’d become fast friends and had swapped numbers so they could continue talking.

Over the next few weeks and months, they kept talking, both online and in person, and Tim was so glad that a chance meeting had given him a new friend. Right up until he got an out of the blue message from Lillie that had him worrying that it might be the beginning of the end of their friendship.

**Lillie Sierra:** _There’s a classic comedy movie festival on at the weekend, including a couple Buster Keaton movies. Do you want to go together?_

**Lillie Sierra:** _Like as a date._

Tim worried his lip, staring at his phone as he figured out how to answer. Honestly, he’d love to go on a date with her because he thought he was a little bit in love with her, but he’d also grown to value their friendship enough that he didn’t want to chance losing it when he had to tell her that he didn’t want to sleep with her. In the end, he decided to call her. Ideally, it was a conversation they’d have in person, but he was about to go onto a long shift and didn’t want to leave it that long. Video call would have to do.

“Hey, Tim. I take it you got my message.” Lillie looked a little nervous, not that he could blame her.

“Hey, Lillie. I thought this was a conversation we should have ‘face to face.’” Tim made speech marks with his free hand, before immediately jumping in to reassure her he wasn’t turning her down. Not outright at least. “I’d love to go on a date with you.”

The relief was evident on her face, but the furrow in her brow made it clear she’d also caught the unspoken part of his reply. “…But?”

Tim worried his lip, before just going for it. “I’m ace. I don’t like sex and I’m not going to change my mind about it. I know that’s a dealbreaker for most people.”

Lillie’s expression cleared and she smiled warmly at him. “Me too. That’s what this ring means.”

She held her hand up to show the black band on her right middle finger, which Tim had noticed before but never really thought about. Tim sagged back against the counter behind him, grinning in relief as Lillie’s phone refocused on her face.

“That’s great!” He felt like a weight had been lifted off him, and his nerves had quickly given way to excitement about the idea of a date. “Actually, I think I remember seeing something about the black ring thing once, but I must have put it out of my mind and forgotten about it. I should get myself one.”

“Totally! I got mine online, but you can probably get one in most jewelry piercing shops too.” Lillie grinned, looking as relieved as Tim felt.

“In that case, I can’t wait ‘til the weekend.” Tim glanced at the calendar on the fridge where he had his schedule. “When’s the festival?”

They arranged their date, chatted for a while longer, and then hung up so Tim could get ready for his shift, still feeling like he was on top of the world. He was smiling all the way to the firehouse, so much so that Nancy and even Paul commented on it, but even their friendly teasing couldn’t bring his mood down.

Saturday rolled around, and Tim was up bright and early even though he wasn’t actually meeting Lillie until the afternoon. He fed Buster, sent a photo of the two of them playing with a feather on a string to Lillie, and drank a mug of coffee while he tried to decide what to wear. He eventually resorted to messaging Nancy, who roasted him a whole lot before actually giving him some helpful advice, which was honestly more or less what he’d been expecting.

When he arrived at the movie theatre, hours later, Lillie was already waiting for him outside. As she spotted him walking towards her, she gave him a wave and a smile, the expression sending warmth through Tim’s chest. He grinned back and jogged up to her, reaching out to pull her into a hug.

“Hey. You look really nice today.” Lillie had on a cream vintage blouse with blood red detailing on the collar and pockets, paired with a flouncy skirt and bright green Dr. Marten boots.

Tim had complimented the boots early on in their friendship, and it appeared that she’d remembered.

“So do you. In fact, you look _surprisingly_ well put together.” The corner of Lillie’s mouth quirked up impishly. “Did you have help getting dressed?”

Tim snorted. “No, I did _not_ have help getting dressed.”

Lillie raised an eyebrow.

“Fine. Nancy may have picked out the outfit. But I got dressed all on my own!” Tim pretended to be proud of that last claim, puffing out his chest and pasting a pleased with himself expression on his face.

It lasted right up until he caught Lillie’s eye, and her resulting giggle made him burst out laughing. With their laughter still ringing out, he offered her his hand and they headed into the theatre with their fingers linked together.

They got their tickets, two giant sodas, and a ridiculous amount of snacks to share, before making their way to their seats and settling in. The first movie was actually a Charlie Chaplin one Tim hadn’t seen before, but he kept finding himself being distracted from the action on screen by looking at Lillie instead. It started with little natural glances. The kind that often happened around someone you liked, but where up until now he’d forced himself to look away immediately after. As he didn’t have to stop himself from looking at her now, it became harder and harder to pay attention to the movie.

Charlie Chaplin had nothing on Lillie Sierra.

The other thing that he slowly started noticing was how many times he looked at her, only to find her turning her attention back to the screen as if she’d just been looking at him. It appeared that he wasn’t the only one who was a little distracted.

There was a short intermission between the first and second movies, to allow people to go to the restroom and/or get more drinks and snacks, but both Tim and Lillie stayed in their seats.

“So, how was work this week?” Lillie asked, twisting in her seat towards Tim. “Things with your new boss any better?”

Tim pulled a face at the mention of Tommy. Objectively, he knew that she was good at her job and that it couldn’t be easy, coming back to work after however many years and in the middle of a pandemic, nonetheless, but it still hurt that she never seemed to have a kind word for him or Nancy. Even Michelle had managed the occasional ‘good job.’

“Not really. Like, I get she’s having trouble settling in or whatever, but she doesn’t have to take it out on me and Nancy.” He sighed, before forcibly pushing his annoyance to the back of his mind and changing the subject. “But enough about her, I want to hear about the cats.”

“Fair enough. Let’s see. Did I tell you what Jesper did yesterday?” Lillie rolled her eyes, presumably at whatever the cat had done.

Tim shook his head, helping himself to a few M&Ms. “Don’t think so.”

“Well, the latest in his series of daring escapades is that he tried to smuggle himself out of the café.” Lillie chuckled, taking a sip of her drink before continuing. “He was out with the customers, and after a while, we realised that we hadn’t seen him for a bit. So, we started checking the normal hiding places, making sure he hadn’t gone back to his bed, y’know, the usual stuff. Then all of a sudden there was a shout from the main room. Turns out, he’d managed to sneak into some poor woman’s handbag, and when she’d gone to get her purse to pay, she’d found him. Hence the cry of surprise.”

“Good job she noticed before she left!” Tim laughed, easily able to imagine Jesper doing that from all the other stories Lillie had told him since they’d met.

“I’d hope she’d have noticed when her bag was significantly heavier than when she entered, but yeah. Then of course, Sooty made her regular attempt to get at the cakes even though they’d just make her sick.” Lillie snorted, adding, “I swear she’s learned to recognise when a customer asks for chocolate cake because she always seems to be there waiting for one of us to lift the lid.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Buster definitely knows the word ‘tuna.’” Tim shook his head in fond exasperation.

“Speaking of Buster, that picture you sent this morning is my new favourite thing.” Lillie smiled impishly at him and pulled her phone out to show him that she’d set it as her background.

The photo had Tim in profile at one edge, the feather on a stick he was holding out in the centre, and then Buster ready to pounce on the other side. Tim had managed to snap a photo just before Buster leaped, so unlike the several others he still had in his camera roll, that one actually had a cat instead of a blur.

“I’m glad I could be of service.” He smiled back, hoping he wasn’t blushing despite feeling a little self-conscious.

The second movie started shortly after that, a Laurel and Hardy one that neither of them had seen before. They ended up pushing the armrest out of the way so Lillie could curl up against Tim and he could wrap his arm around her shoulders, and they spent the rest of the movie like that. There was a longer break between movies two and three, so they took the chance to grab hot dogs from the truck outside before heading back in for the headline movie – a Buster Keaton one that Tim couldn’t wait to share with Lillie. At the end of the night, they left the theatre hand in hand, stopping a short way down the street at the intersection where they needed to go their separate ways.

“I had a great time tonight,” Tim said, smiling softly at Lillie.

“Me too.” She stepped closer and hugged him, snaking her arms under his jacket.

“How do you feel about kisses?” Tim murmured, enjoying the closeness of Lillie pressed against him.

“Little ones are okay. More than that, only sometimes.” She pulled back and looked up at him in a clear invitation.

“In that case, can I kiss you?”

Lillie answered the question by pressing her lips to Tim’s in a soft, sweet kiss, adding the cherry to the top of an already amazing evening.

*

Their relationship didn’t change _that_ much after their date. They’d already been at the point where they often messaged other throughout the day (work allowing) and they hung out when their schedules matched up. Now they did the same things, but with added cuddling and casual affection that went beyond normal friendships.

They planned another date for the week after, dinner out at a new restaurant Carlos had recommended, and Tim had been floating along on the anticipation from that as he started his shift. However, Tommy telling him off for promising a little kid that his dad would be okay put a dampener on his mood even if she had a point, and then overhearing her making a similar promise she couldn’t keep to her own kids just made it worse. They arrived at the frat party to even more chaos than normal, and suddenly the planned date was the last thing on his mind.

He made sure not to promise his patient, Spence, that he’d be able to walk again despite the guy begging in a way that wrenched at Tim’s heartstrings and then couldn’t help being a little relieved when Spence asked him to call his mom. That was something he could manage.

Then someone was shouting for everyone to take cover, and Tim had just enough time to look up at the sky to see annihilation coming for him.

He never did buy that ring.

*

Tim woke up feeling weirdly fine.

Then he questioned why it was weird he felt fine.

Then his last moments came flooding back to him and it felt like he was being hit by a ball of lava all over again. How did he survive that? He couldn’t have survived that. Had it just been a nightmare?

He scrambled to his feet, somewhat expecting to have dozed off at the firehouse, but as he took in his surroundings for the first time, it became immediately apparent that wasn’t the case. He was in a library? A waiting room? He wasn’t entirely sure. There were glass sliding doors on one wall, and the sight of the wild sprawling garden on the other side of them suddenly gave Tim the urgent need to be outside. He fumbled the latch, forced himself to take a breath, and then let himself out, beelining for a worn looking bench a little way into the garden. He dropped onto it heavily, thoughts racing. Either this was the weirdest, most real feeling dream he’d ever had, or he had died, and this was all …what, a dying hallucination? For all modern medicine knew about the human body, they still had very little idea of what came after death.

Then he heard soft footsteps approaching, and he looked up to see someone completely unexpected.

“Howdy, Tim.” Chuck Parkland looked exactly the same as the day he’d died, and Tim had a sudden flash of memory of watching the firefighter climb into the truck with the others, never to return.

“Chuck!” Tim leaped to his feet again, unable to help himself staring a little.

Chuck pulled him into a bear hug, slapping his back a couple of times before releasing him.

“It’s weird, huh? Waking up here?”

“I’m dead.” It wasn’t really a question, but Tim looked at Chuck for confirmation anyway.

“Yup.” The other man nodded, looking sympathetic. “I’m sorry.”

“Gotta say, being taken out by a flaming ball of lava was not how I expected to go,” Tim said humourlessly.

“Join the club,” Chuck replied with a wry smile, trying to cheer him up a little. “Exploding cow shit wasn’t on my list either.”

“I guess not.” Tim managed a faint chuckle, despite wishing he could cuddle Buster for comfort.

The absent thought of his cat made his stomach clench. “Buster! Who’s going to look after Buster if I’m dead?”

“Captain Vega took him in. He’s being well looked after.” Chuck reached out and squeezed Tim’s shoulder.

“How do you know?” Tim stared at him. “In fact, how do you know who Captain Vega is? Oh wait, never mind, she was at the 126 before I started, wasn’t she?”

Chuck nodded. “After a while you develop the ability to see what’s going on in the living world.”

“Can you see if anyone else was hurt?” Tim tried not to sound like he was demanding the information, although he thought Chuck would understand anyway.

“Everyone else is okay, including the guy you were treating,” Chuck answered straight away, clearly empathising with Tim’s concern for the rest of the crew. “Well, I mean they’re obviously grieving, but no one else was hurt.”

Tim heaved a sigh of relief at that. Even if the rest of the situation wasn’t optimal, at least he was the only one who died. Nancy and the others would be fine, with time.

“They dedicate the ambulance in your memory.”

Tim blinked in surprise. “Really?”

Chuck nodded. “The firefighters come together and arrange it, and Nancy paints your name on.”

“I…” Tim was speechless, touched by the gesture that he hadn’t at all expected.

“Yeah.” Chuck gave him a soft smile and patted him on the shoulder.

Chuck left him to his thoughts after that, giving Tim time to process everything that had happened and everything that he’d just learned.

Eventually, Tim decided that the best way to prevent himself from being overwhelmed by it all was to explore his new surroundings, so he pushed himself to his feet and set off in a random direction. The garden gave way to woodland which in turn gave way to a gentle rolling hill with a castle perched on top. Tim made his way toward the castle, feeling drawn to it in a way he couldn’t explain. The well-worn trail carried him to the entranceway, an imposing archway with two large wooden doors that were pushed back against the walls, allowing him entry. He followed that faint tug, letting it lead him through the walls into a courtyard, and then on to the opposite corner where a tower adjoined the keep. Skirting the keep, he slipped into the tower and started climbing the stairs, sticking to the outside of the spiral to avoid the dips in the centre of the steps, made by people centuries past.

He ducked his head into the rooms he passed in curiosity, but otherwise kept climbing, right to the top of the tower. He emerged onto the parapet; his gaze immediately being drawn to the incredible view, and the tug fading away. He could see for what felt like miles, over gently rolling grassland and out to what looked like a lake or sea in the distance.

“It’s really something, isn’t it?” A familiar voice asked, making Tim spin around to stare at its owner.

“Lillie,” Tim exclaimed, voice barely more than a breath.

Lillie was seated on a wooden bench at the inner side of the walkway, with an unfamiliar cat curled up in her lap, and had been looking out over the crenelations until Tim spoke. She turned towards him, expression a complicated mix of joy and devastation that seemed to be a mirror of how Tim was feeling at the sight of her.

“What happened to you?”

“How did you-”

They both spoke at the same time, Tim giving a weak chuckle before they both answered at the same time too. “Lava.”

Lillie ushered the cat off her lap and stood up, moving towards him. Tim met her in the middle and wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her in a big hug. He buried his face in her hair, inhaling her familiar scent, trying to focus on the fact that she was here with him, rather than the fact that she’d also died. There was nothing he could do about the latter, but he could still take comfort from the former.

After a few minutes, he pulled away just enough so he could look at her as he spoke but could keep his hands on her waist. “What happened?”

“A crack opened up in my neighbour’s front yard. She’s elderly and has restricted movement so I knew she’d struggle to get out without help, so I climbed the fence out back and went to help. I managed to get her and her cat out, but then the crack widened, and I lost my footing.” Lillie stopped there, but Tim could easily imagine what happened next. “You?”

“We got called to a crack that had opened up at a frat party. I was helping a guy who’d been injured and was begging me to tell him that everything would be okay. Then he gave in and asked me to call his mom, so in relief, I told him that I _could_ promise that.” Tim cringed at the memory, unable to help thinking that all his promises that day had brought nothing but bad luck.

“Uh oh.” Lillie squeezed gently where she had her hands looped around Tim’s neck, grounding him.

“Yeah. That about sums it up. Then someone cried out for everyone to take cover, but before I could even think about moving us, I looked up and the last thing I saw was a lava bomb flying straight towards me.” He took a deep breath, fighting off the anxiety that threatened to bubble up at the memory. “And then I woke up here.”

“Yeah, same.” Lillie closed the gap between them again, hugging him tightly.

“The cat?” Tim asked, watching it grooming itself on the bench from over Lillie’s shoulder.

“I found her here. She’s not one I knew in life, but I am glad to find out that cats go to the afterlife too.”

“Me too,” Tim agreed, hoping that that meant he’d get to see Buster again one day.

They separated after a little while and went to sit on the bench next to the cat, hands linked as they looked out across the landscape.

“Did you feel something leading you here?” Tim asked, glancing at Lillie.

“Yeah. A pull, a feeling that I was meant to be here.” Lillie nodded. “As if I’m meant to be with you.”

She smiled a soft smile that tugged on Tim’s heartstrings and made his worries fade away, at least for the time being. He returned the smile and squeezed her hand, feeling perfectly at peace for the first time in a long time.

“I like that idea.”

**Author's Note:**

> The alternate title for this fic is ‘I Lava You a Lot’. XD


End file.
